Conduits, such as pipes for water, gas, and sewage and cables for telephone, power, and television are buried underground around the world. It often becomes important to know the location of a conduit or other underground asset. For example, a construction company may want to ensure they are not damaging any buried assets before digging for a foundation. A gas company has an interest in being able to locate its underground pipes when they leak. A telephone company may need to connect new telephone cables to existing cables. In each of these instances, it can be useful to know not only where an underground asset is buried, but also what kind of asset is buried there and who owns it.
Underground assets have traditionally been marked by several different methods. Visual markers or other indicators can be installed immediately after an asset is buried, but such markers can be lost, stolen, or destroyed. Visual markers, such as warning tape, can also be installed underground, often buried several feet above an underground asset. Individuals digging or excavating then come into contact with the visual marker first, to alert them to the presence of an asset below or close to the visual marker. However, such visual markers only provide notice after a person has started digging, meaning that the person could be digging in the wrong place for some time before realizing it.
Tracer wire has been used to electrically mark the path of an underground conduit. Tracer wire is sometimes buried with the conduit or asset. When one end of the tracer wire is activated with an alternating current (AC) signal, the wire conducts the current and radiates an electromagnetic signal. A separate receiver above ground can detect the signal and thereby determine the path of the tracer wire and corresponding asset. If a break occurs in the wire, the AC signal is not conducted beyond the point of the break, so no information may be available after that point. Further, the tracer wire needs to be accessible from ground level in order to be activated and does not provide a visual warning prior to reaching the approximate level of the buried asset.
Passive inductive markers have also been used to mark underground assets. Such markers typically include a wire coil and a capacitor located in a protective housing. The inductive marker is then buried near the item to be marked. Inductive markers are activated by generating a magnetic field into the ground in the area where the marker is expected to be found. The magnetic field couples with the marker, and the inductive marker receives and stores energy from the coupled magnetic field during the transmission cycle. When the transmission cycle ends, the inductive marker re-emits the signal at the same frequency with an exponentially decaying amplitude. A detecting device above ground detects the signal from the marker and alerts the user to the presence of the marker.
Underground warning tapes and inductive markers are typically color coded according to the type of utility they mark. Specifically, gas-line markers are yellow; telephone cable markers are orange; waste water markers are green; water pipe markers are blue; and power supply markers are red. Similarly, inductive markers are frequently coded by tuning the coil to a particular frequency to represent a particular type of utility. The frequencies traditionally used are: 83.0 kHz for gas; 101.4 kHz for telecomm; 121.6 kHz for waste water; 145.7 kHz for water; and 169.8 kHz for power. A locating technician can use a locator tuned to the frequency for the desired utility. For example, if a technician is searching for telephone lines, he must use a locator tuned to 101.4 kHz. That locator will activate only inductive markers also tuned to that frequency.
Factors influencing marker choice include the cost, need to identify the particular asset buried, the need to know the path of the buried asset, the depth (below ground) of the asset, and the required marker depth. These factors can be important in designing a marker system for assets underground.